Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

the thyroid-booze question

what are peoples experience of alchohol and how it interacts/relates to thyroid problems??

I have allway drunk a fair bit..... since my teens really..... when I was much younger I have no problems with hangovers. then around the age 22 onwards I would have intermittent periods of mood problems and fatigue, but also I would get mega hang overs.... bed ridden ones that might last for days, then other times they'd not be too bad.  anyway the last few years (since being diagnosed with hashi's) hangovers arn't so bad but still pretty bad, I generally don't drink that much anymore, but a few drinks can be enough to leav me feeling pretty rough for upto 2 days.

my theory is that the binge drinking of my youth combined with some big viral infections and a stressful family environemnt, might have contributed to my hashi's devloping. Another theory of mine is that those of us who rely on t4 only meds and conversion for t3, really have to look after our livers and kidneys. I reckon big drinking nights stress our organs and the liver and kidneys have such a large role in converting, this temporarily inhibits t4-t3 conversion. which means our hangovers are bolstered by breif low t3 hypo's..

any thoughts/experiences anyone????

5 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
yeah, i was under the impression that genetic predisposition doesn't nessercari;y lead to genetic expression. and that environmental stuff had a part in sending immune systems haywire....so if your immune system is proneto going wrong, hammering your body with nasty unatural stuff isn't advised....

hence my alchohol/stress/ viral ifection ideas.... mind you my tea total aunt still has hashi's :) and her tea total father did too.....
Helpful - 0
1299122 tn?1281040416
I have to disagree with redhead (sorry!) I've read many articles where "stress" can be a trigger in the onset of hashis or any of the body's autoimmune responses. I believe that I was (am) genetically predisposed to it, but in my case, a handful of years of high-end stress provided the trigger that set it off. In my case my body's antibodies chose to attack my thyroid gland. Hashis is an autoimmune disease - its did not "begin" with my thyroid. I read more and more about the mind/body connection - although I am sure I cannot "think" or meditate away my disease...

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/shamesautoimm.htm
http://www.aarda.org/infocus_article.php?ID=31
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880
Helpful - 0
219241 tn?1413537765
Alcohol is going to affect many organs and tissues in the body regardless of Hashimoto's disease or not. Alcohol DOES inpinge on the T4 to T3 conversion. Heavy drinkers ( more than 2 standard glasses of wine a day for women and 3 for men.) and also alcoholics have major difficulty with their thyroid function.

The other issue is that it is not brought on by stress, lifestyle factors or alcohol. Hashi's is the body seeing that the thyroid is a foreign object and sets out to destroy it.

  Hangovers are caused by the body being dehydrated and the kidneys working overtime. In time the body starts to fail at its repair rate and the liver especially suffers.
Memory issues are bad enough with Hashimoto's but adding heavy drinking is only going to mask that, as the short term memory goes in heavy drinking and you won't now which is which. At least in moderate drinking you know when you are having memory problems that are related to Hashi's.

   Hangovers are natures way of telling you you are destroying your body, regardless of the T3 low.  The reason you find drinking moderately now affects you is that your body got used to the heavy drinking and now it is converting alcohol quicker in your liver. Alcohol is technically a poison which our livers de-tox then re-tox to give you the high. It takes approximately one hour for a drink to not cause damage, but many people drink more than 2 or 3 standard drinks an hour and end up with damage. Over time this is dangerous and once you destroy something in the body you will not get it back.

The thyroid works hard enough in dealing with other factors let alone bringing alcohol into the picture.  So of course with thyroid function  and/or medication the body is dealing with getting rid of the alcohol through the kidneys, liver etc, it is only going to be working harder at maintaining levels throughout the day. That system can and will fail if excess alcohol is consumed. It is only a temporary issue if occasional excessive drinking happens but  in long term drinking it fails permanently with the T4 to T3 conversion.

   I enjoy a drink, I have no thyroid and I know that if I do drink heavily and then go to take my thyroxine in the morning, I had better be darned sure that the time frame has allowed the alcohol to leave my body, or it is pointless taking it. (Remembering it takes approx one hour for a drink to leave the body with no alcohol present, so if I drink more than 8 glasses of wine and go to bed say at midnight, my body will still have alcohol at 8am, no driving nor medication should be done) Hence why I no longer drink any more than a 10% alcohol light wine, or more than 2 or 3 glasses. Hard enough to maintain my thyroid levels!
Helpful - 0
1299122 tn?1281040416
I've read that alcohol suppresses thyroid function and has a negative effect on the whole endocrine system. Here is a link to a medical publication.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh21-1/53.pdf

However, I don't believe that Hashis (auto-immune disease that attacks thyroid tissue) is caused by consuming alcohol. But, if you have hashis or low functioning thyroid I think that consuming more than a casual drink now and then would render the thryoid hormone ineffective. (just like drinking is not recommended while taking antibiotic)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My father never had a drink in his life, he had hashi's, I drink moderately, had my college years where I drank a bit much, had hashi's.  Don't think it has anything to do with it.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Thyroid Disorders Community

Top Thyroid Answerers
649848 tn?1534633700
FL
Avatar universal
MI
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
We tapped the CDC for information on what you need to know about radiation exposure
Endocrinologist Mark Lupo, MD, answers 10 questions about thyroid disorders and how to treat them
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.